JOHNSTON COUNTY — It was after dark on a high speed stretch of Highway 42 that winds through Johnston County about 15 miles east of Clayton. Monday night, one car slammed head-on into another, and all four people involved are dead.

Investigators say a red Pontiac Grand Prix was driving eastbound on Highway 42 when it crossed the center line and collided head-on with a green Mercury.

Tommy Ray Tinsley, 43, of Selma, Brian Anthony Johnson, 28, of Clayton, and a third victim whose name has not yet been released, died at the scene of the accident. Sandra Jackson, 43, of Four Oaks, died en route to Duke University Medical Center.

Jackson sustained massive injuries and was alive when rescue workers arrived at the scene of the accident.

"They cut the top off the car and the doors off the car and lifted her out," explained Sgt. C.S. Taylor of the Highway Patrol.

Investigators say speeding and alcohol caused the accident. The Grand Prix, they say, was clocked traveling at 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour speed zone.